Kaleidoscope
by Divine Contemplation
Summary: Inspired by His Dark Materials. Lily and Kayla were cousins, but they could have been twins. A simple kaleidoscope brought them apart, and it can  maybe  bring them back together.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Where is it now?" A lady's voice spoke.

"The girl. She has it," a man replied.

"Where is she?" the woman asked.

"No one knows. It seems she has disappeared." I stood and peered through the window. The woman stood, examining a painting on the far wall, her back to the man sitting on the sofa. The woman turned around, seeming to stare right at me. I ducked, hoping I hadn't been seen. I wanted to hear more, but it was too dangerous if the woman thought I was watching. Anyway, I had been listening long enough. My suspicions were confirmed.

Now, to find Lily. I crept away from the middle-class house, aware that any noise would give me away. I reached the edge of the woods, then took off, sprinting towards where I had seen her last. "Lily!" I called in a hushed whisper. "Lily!"

Lily poked her head out from where she was sitting behind a bush. "How'd it go?" she asked.

"Great," I replied, a touch of sarcasm in my voice. "I was almost caught by the wicked witch herself. But I did get some information."

"Well…?" she prompted, an edge to her voice.

"Well, what? It's exactly as we've been thinking. They're after the Reader. They know I have it, but they don't know where I am. Or that I'm with you."

"So, we're safe, then? We can just stay here, and they won't find us." I was shocked at her innocence.

"Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so. How will we get food, or water? And what happens when winter comes? We only have enough supplies to last a few days. And The Witch will find out we're here. We have to keep moving, moving constantly. Without anyone noticing."

"But we're safe here for a few days? When we run out of stuff to eat, we can find somewhere else to stay."

I shot her a withering glance, then turned and stalked off, taking my handbag with the Kaleidoscope with me. There was no way I was leaving that behind, with Lily. She had always been so impulsive, and she would probably break it or do something equally as bad.

"Kay—wait! Where are you going?" Lily stood and stumbled towards me.

"Forget it, Lily." I turned back to her, giving her a cold glare. "I can do this alone." Lily watched me go, anger building up inside her. As I disappeared, she overflowed. Slowly, she turned and walked back to the house I had left minutes earlier. She rang the doorbell. The man answered. "Yes?" he asked.

"I'm here to see the witch," Lily said.


	2. Chapter 1

"Go! Hurry!" Kayla pushed Melissa in front of her into the cave. Melissa ducked behind a rock, and Kayla pressed herself against the wall to one side of the entrance. She then moved a little so she could peer out. It was perfect for eavesdropping.

"Lily's coming," Kayla muttered, "and the Witch is with her."

"Ah, Ms. Kreel," Melissa hissed, disgusted. "Shh, I can't hear them." They stayed perfectly still for a moment before the voices came within hearing distance.

Ms. Kreel spoke first. "So you can read it?"

"Yes, it's pretty easy," Lily replied, "once you know how."

"And you could teach me?"

"No, it's not something you can teach. You just sort of…well, if you can read it, you feel that you can, and you just _know_ it. If you can't, there's no use trying, you'll never be able to."

"And you feel it?"

"Well…sort of. I understand most of it. I was getting better; Kayla was helping me. As much as you can help anyone," she added.

"I see," Ms. Kreel said. "Well, then, you'll have to read it for me."

"Yes, ma'am."

They walked on and out of sight, and it was safe for the girls to emerge from their hiding places.

"Did you hear that?" Kayla asked, almost not believing.

"Pinch me, I think I'm dreaming." Melissa looked as astonished as Kayla was.

"It's not hard. All you do is look through the glass and point it at someone, and it shows you a movie, so to speak. It's easy, and it can be taught. I'm teaching you."

"Why'd she lie?" Melissa asked.

"I dunno. Either she was helping us—"

"No, she'd never do that. What would she get out of it?"

"—Or she doesn't want the Witch to read it."

"But why?" Melissa looked just as confused as Kayla felt.

"I don't know, Melly. I don't know."


	3. Chapter 2

**Sorry for no author's notes... this is my first fanfic and I thought you could edit it once you've submitted it... stupid me. Sorry. Anyway, people, PLEASE review! If you don't like it, tell me what's wrong with it. If you don't, I'm never gonna get any better and you'll just have to read this crap the rest of your lives!** **You don't want that, do you? So tell me if you like it, why you like it, if you hate it, why you hate it... etc. Basically, REVIEW!!!!!!  
**

"Let's follow them," Melissa suggested suddenly.

"What? No, we can't. We've risked enough as it is."

"Oh…darn. Then let's go home." They turned and headed back towards the city, walking silently, each lost in their own thoughts. Kayla was thinking of Lily, remembering and longing for the care-free days of their childhood: romping around the garden, laughing and joking with each other, as close as cousins could get. Then came that day – that horrible day which was to stick in the minds of both girls for eternity. The day they found the Kaleidoscope.

The girls had been young, both 9 at the time. They had been exploring the attic of Kayla's house when they found a small telescope-like thing. When Kayla had pressed her eye to the lens, she had seen millions of dons, formed into shapes. "It's a kaleidoscope!" she had exclaimed, and peered through, pointing it at Lily. Immediately the dots had showed the form of a girl, which was mostly normal. But then it had changed, to show the attic, exactly like the real thing, but darker, dusty. Confused, Kayla had brought the kaleidoscope down from her eye, and the attic had returned to normal: the colorful, inviting place that Kayla saw it as. She lifted the kaleidoscope to her eye again, pointing it at Lily, and the attic became the dull, lifeless torture that she had seen the first time. She opened her mouth to ask Lily about it, but Lily spoke first.

"Let's go," she said. "There's nothing exciting up here."

Kayla gasped. She had been looking forward to exploring every corner of the attic, and it would have provided hours of fun. But mostly she was astonished because what Lily saw in the attic was exactly what she had seen through the kaleidoscope when she pointed it at Lily. "Funny," Kayla said bitterly, "That's exactly what I saw when I pointed the kaleidoscope at you. Normally, it's bright and colorful."

"Weird," Lily said. "Maybe it reads people's thoughts." She was being sarcastic, but Kayla nodded enthusiastically.

"Try it," she said. "Think of anything, anything at all, and I'll see if I can see it through here."

Lily was skeptical, but she nodded anyway. She pulled a memory from the back of her mind, one she had kept hidden for a long time. Kayla put the kaleidoscope to her eye and pointed it at Lily. A movie of sorts began to play before her eyes. She watched, and reported to her cousin as she did so. "There's you and me—and Kevin? And we're running around in the kitchen. Kevin stopped—he fell—oh, this was when he cut off his finger. And he's seen the knife, and he picked it up, and now the cat came in, and she tripped him, and he fell." The movie stopped, and Kayla looked up. "That was right, wasn't it?"

"Wow," Lily said. "That was right. That's a very valuable kaleidoscope. Can I try?"

"No!" Kayla exclaimed. She pressed the kaleidoscope to herself, holding it tight. "It's mine!"

"What?" Lily stepped back, surprised. "Since when have things been 'yours' and 'mine'?"

"Well, this is mine. We can share everything else, but this is mine."

"Then I get to have something that's mine, too." Lily glared defiantly at Kayla. "I get the cat."

"I get the stuffed animals."

"I get our room."

"I get the rest of the house."

"I get the back yard!"

"I get the front yard!"

"Fine."

"Fine."

Since then, Kayla and Lily had slowly grown apart, had made other friends. They stopped doing everything together, stopped caring so much about each other. Their whole relationship had been destroyed by this tiny kaleidoscope. And now nothing could fix it. Every now and then, Kayla found herself longing for her childhood, but she knew it had been lost forever.

Suddenly, Kayla's thoughts were interrupted by a loud crashing in the bushes behind her. She stopped and turned around. Lily was running towards her. Kayla grabbed Melissa's arm, prepared to sprint home. Lily saw that, and stopped. Kayla had a sudden urge to know what was going on in her ex-friend's head. Slowly, she pulled out the Kaleidoscope, pointed it at Lily, and peered through. A movie played, and with a start, Kayla realized it was the scene in the attic when they had first found the Kaleidoscope; the same one she had been remembering. She dropped the Kaleidoscope into her bag, staring at Lily. Melissa tugged at her arm, but she shook her off.

"Those days are over, aren't they?" Lily murmured, just loud enough for the girls to hear. To her surprise, tears pulled at Kayla's eyes, trying to get free. She stood for a moment, then let herself go. She ran at Lily and hugged her, the tears streaming from her eyes. "They don't have to be," she sobbed. "Those days don't have to be over."


End file.
